Text Message Marketing: Setting Expectations Upfront is Key

Mobile marketing is becoming a significant area of discussion in today’s multi-channel communications mix, yet most digitally-focused marketers would agree that treading carefully in the mobile arena is critical. Just because most phone owners use text messaging shouldn’t mean it’s 100% fair game for marketers to key in on that opportunity with any type of promotional message they want to send. Not at all!

I guard my cell phone very closely, and less so with my email in-box. I am more receptive of email marketing because it’s a known method of marketing that we all get in various forms and quantities. While I am not always fond of some of the strange sales pitches that land in my in-box, I’ve come to expect them.

The good news around text message marketing is that the recipient must opt-in to give permission to the marketer to send texts (thanks to the CAN-SPAM act that also regulates email marketing). Yet, even if I were to opt-in to such a service, there’s something about a text message from a marketer or business that’s trying to sell me something that feels intrusive. Am I the only one who feels this way? Surely, I am not.

Unless I have granted permission to a marketer or service to receive a one-time or short-term bit of content via text message, I am not interested. Political campaigns or charitable causes are examples of good uses of text message marketing, but even those need to state clearly, upfront, what kind of messages will be relayed and for how long. I opted in for a particular political candidate’s text message updates a year ago, yet long after the election, I still receive random texts from that organization that have nothing to do with the campaign.

Just as an aside, email marketers rarely do a good job of setting expectations upfront to their recipients about what kind of content they’ll receive and how often they’ll receive it. When they do state that upfront, and stick to what they promise, most of the time the open and click rates on those emails are higher than if the email marketing is sent at random frequencies and with no clear standard for the type of content or topics shared.

What are your thoughts about SMS text marketing? Are you as protective as I am about the content that comes through on your cell phone? Or are you open to anything, within reason, that marketers text to you?

How to Set Up Webinars to Boost Lead Generation and Brand Reputation

Do you want your company to be known as a key thought-leader and expert in your industry? Are you willing to try some new methods to improve your lead generation efforts, to gain more qualified prospects? If your answers to both questions are “Yes” (as they should be), webinars are a proven tool you can use to achieve these goals.

Pick a few topics or issues that are key in your industry, that meet these criteria:
1. Current hot-button issues or challenges that your customers face
2. General appeal or applicable to a wide audience
3. Easy to explain and present (ideally, non-technical)
4. Can use real-world examples that your product or service can solve

Read up on webinar platforms, such as from Webex or GoToWebinar. For a small investment in one of these services, you can schedule free or paid audio/video sessions with people interested in the topics you present. Has your email list become stagnate? There’s a good chance you can revitalize that list by offering an educational session about a topic in your industry, or common questions or concerns that people face when evaluating the products and services you sell. Only at the end of the webinar should you mention how to get in touch with you to learn more about your company.

For instance, a financial service company may want to offer a series of webinars on mortgage issues. Or, a web agency could present some how-to’s on selecting the right web design or SEO company. By inviting people to attend your webinars, you show that you care about more than getting their business, and in doing so they will think of you when they are ready to buy because you have shown that you are a leader in your field. Being an educator puts you ahead of the pack of those who just sell, sell, and sell.

To start, create a Powerpoint presentation on the topic you want to present in your webinar. Don’t try to fit in too much. A succinct presentation, though it may cover a small portion of what you really want to present, will go over much better than one that is overloaded with information that will bury your audience. Next, decide who in your company will present the webinar. This should be someone who is well-spoken and can answer questions with authority. Or, find an expert on the topic outside of your company.

Once you have signed up with your webinar provider, schedule the webinar and send an invitation to your lists. Plaster the webinar details in every social network, direct mail, or any other channel you have at your disposal. Ultimately, you not only want to re-invigorate your existing list but gain NEW people who may be future customers. Finally, once you host your webinar, be sure to record it in a file that people can download at a later time. You may even choose to offer it as a free download. Depending on your industry, it may make more sense for you to offer both the live webinar and the recording for a reasonable price. Gauge the interest of the topic and price it accordingly.

Social Media for B2B: What are the Prime Values?

We’ve been asked, more than once and maybe even more than 100 times, what can a company in the B2B arena get out of social media. This post isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list of benefits, but there are at least a few that are worth mentioning with some detail. In a world where the nay-sayers’ voices about social media for business tend to get quite a bit of attention, it’s a pleasure to be able to share some of the unique values that exist for B2B marketers today.

1. Listen to the Voice of the Customer: With online communities or portals, in particular, you can create a venue where your customers can share pros, cons, new product feedback and feature requests with you. Look at it as a lab for generating consumer feedback about your products and services. You have to be willing to be transparent and accept the negative, but in the end you will have shown your customers you care about their needs, are listening, and that outreach may just pay big dividends when it comes time for them to choose between Competitor X and you, because you will have shown them that their needs are your top priority. American Express created its “Open Forum” and “Idea Hub” to serve small business clients, for example. At the very least, what is the harm in letting your consumers tell you what they think of you?
2. Identify Leads and Potential Partners: It’s true that you can’t count on seeing a ton of new business from your participation in social media. But what CAN you count on? If you look at social media as just one channel in your marketing mix, contributing to the end goal of increasing brand awareness and sales, then you won’t expect an unreasonable level of return on your social activities and you won’t get down on it before it’s had a chance to make an impact. Sales leads will come. There’s just no doubt about that if you start with a social media strategy that makes sense for your business, where all the participants in your company know their role and do it well. Over time, the connections you’ll make in the social spheres will far, far outweigh the quantity and quality of the sporadic offline connections you make. You’ll be able to size them up by what they do and say on Twitter, LinkedIn, and so on, and be better able to make that sales pitch or partnership request with more knowledge about who they are and what they might need from you.
3. Outwit, Outplay, Outlast: This last point is pretty clear-cut: If you are not at the dinner table, how will you see what there is to eat, how will you get to choose what’s on your plate, and how will you fill your belly with the things that will sustain you? As a B2B company who is an active, strategic participant in social media, you have the ability to see what your competition is doing, and Outwit them by doing “it” better or in a creative way; You can Outplay them for connections to the best target consumers in your market, and you can Outlast your competitors by staying relevant with daily social interactions with the consumers you serve. It comes down to Trust. Aren’t you more willing to trust a company that is willing to engage in dialog with you – outside of the other more formal methods of marketing?

For some marketers, it’s easier to discount the values of social media for B2B companies, instead resting on traditional marketing tactics that maybe have worked for them before. For more and more B2B marketers, though, the signs are pointing to getting involved in some form of social media strategy that fits their business. No one says that everyone has to be on Twitter or Facebook. But you do need to be where your customers and prospective customers are.